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Our second stop on our honeymoon road trip was a tiny, gorgeous town called Victoria on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It was the best decision we made on our trip. Here's what we did!

How we got there ||

We drove from Seattle to Port Angeles, Washington. It was only a few hours till we were at the cutest little seaside town, tucked away in the mountains. We boarded a ferry boat with the Black Ball Ferry Line, which took us right to Victoria. There was a little gift shop on the boat, and a small cafeteria. We got french fries and ginger beer, and then we walked around the ship's decks. It was windy and cold, but the view was unbeatable. Soon, we docked right in Victoria!

Where we stayed ||

We stayed the Craigmyle Bed & Breakfast. It was absolutely adorable. It was an incredibly old house that was updated and decorated with a Parisian feel. The owners were so nice and the breakfast the next morning had dairy-free and gluten-free options, which made this girl SO happy!

What we did ||

1. Feed the seals! Fun fact: seals are EVERYWHERE here. I'm an east coast city girl, so seeing natural seals was amazing! There are little shops everywhere where you can buy fish and the seals will literally eat right out of your hands!

2. Stroll Butchart Gardens. Everyone told us this was a must-see, including some locals that we talked to. It's also said to be one of the top 10 gardens in the WORLD. It was pretty incredible, not going to lie. Now, we aren't really the "visiting gardens" type of couple, but we actually found ourselves really enjoying this!

3. Cruise the coast. Victoria is on Vancouver Island and is pretty easy to get around. We got on the road along the coast and just drove and drove to our heart's content. The view is gorgeous (I felt like I was back in Ireland!) We stopped to admire the view, take some pictures and see if we could spot any whales!

4. Have tea time. So this one took some convincing on my part, cause the hubs was not super interested. Victoria still has a SUPER European feel that I couldn't help but feel like it was necessary that we went to tea. I found an amazing gluten-free tea time at Butchart Gardens and oh my goodness, this is still one of the highlight from our trip! You only need one tea time package though, it's enough to share for two!

5. Explore Craigdarroch Castle. This castle literally sat in our backyard during our stay. In case you didn't know, I'm actually a Disney princess and when I see a real-life castle, I kinda lose my mind. So we tour this castle late one evening and you didn't hear it from me, but this place is HAUNTED. I could tell from the second I walked in. Definitely haunted. The people who work there will deny it, but trust me. While we were there, we got to chatting with the college girls that worked there and we literally stood in the gift shop for TWO HOURS after closing, exchanging slang terms and TV recommendations. Instant friends.

6. Explore the city and meet the locals. If you go to Victoria and don't spend time walking in and out of shops, walking down by the Inner Harbour, or taking a picture in front of some of the amazing buildings they have there, you are missing out on the true Victoria experience. We saw so many amazing things and we met so many amazing people like Robert J. Whittle, who is a local author from Victoria and was a DELIGHT to talk to. Plus, it's super fun when you hear a Canadian say, "Eh?" to you and you kinda freak out inside.